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At the start of the day, there were only a few categories that I could change position on:

From a hitting perspective, I was locked-in, I couldn’t gain or lose points in Runs, Homers, RBI, or even Batting Average (I could go 0-for-28 and still be in second place).

However, for pitching, I was tied with Steve (Cover Zero) in wins, but I had 2 starters going (Drew Pomeranz, Ryan Dempster), while Steve only had Ted Lilly against the Diamondbacks. Additionally, I was two strikeouts ahead of Steve as well, so there was a possibility of a 1.5 point loss. Lastly, I was behind Mark in WHIP, with us both having 1.300 ratios.

At 6:00 PM on the final day, I was in second place with 74 points, having passed Mark in ratio, (+1), and gaining .5 points in Wins thanks to Colorado’s Drew Pomeranz.

By the time I returned home from picking up the kids from day-care, it was 6:45, and Ryan Dempster had started for the Cubs in San Diego. The thinking was that it was a mediocre Cubs team against an almost-worse Padres team in Petco. I didn’t think Dempster would implode, just an average outing, and perhaps a win, would help me immensely.

After two 3-up, 3-down innings, in the bottom of the 3rd inning in San Diego, Dempster had given up four runs, as well as two walks at this point. My lead in WHIP was still holding, as Mark’s Sean Burnett had pitched 1/3 of an inning and had given up a hit. That “3.000” ratio for the night was holding.

Meanwhile, Ted Lilly was cruising in Arizona, and the D-Backs, having seen the Brewers clinch home-field advantage, didn’t try very hard.

Checking back at 8:00 PM, the Cubs had left Dempster in, where he gave up a run in the fourth . . . and a grand slam by Wil Venable in the sixth. Ouch. Ratio now back to 9th place.

In order to gain that point back in WHIP, I had three other pitchers available – Chad Qualls in the Cubs/Padres game, and both Kenley Jansen (LAD) and David Hernandez (D’backs). They would have to combine for at least 4 runnerless innings. Not sure that’s possible.

As it turns out, none of the three saw game action.

Lilly ended up getting the win in Arizona, bringing me back another .5 points. However, he only had 5 strikeouts (Cover Zero had 7 total), while the RoadRunners had 12, including Dempster’s 7. So that tie in Wins kept me .5 points from tying fourth-place finisher The Pi Train (Barry Stahl).

Final roster moves of the season, which ends after tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) games, barring a one-game Wild-Card playoff.

Holliday had originally injured his finger, and was doubtful for the remainder of the season. However, with the Cardinals’ push for the Wild Card (they’re 1 game back of the Braves), he returned to action, even though he really can’t grip a bat.

In retrospect, Heisey should have been up for all of September, as he’s been on fire. However, worries about his batting average kept him on the bench. Now that BA has been settled (we’ll finish in 2nd after batting .202 this week – ouch), he’s up. Heisey has made himself an interesting proposition for 2012 protection. More on that during the offseason.